"What was his object?"
"He don't mean to come back for you. He wants me to kill you."
"You don't mean that?" said Gilbert, horror-struck.
"Yes, I do. He's goin' to give me a thousand dollars."
"And you agreed to do it?"
"Yes, I agreed to do it."
"Would you stain your hands with murder for a thousand dollars?" asked Gilbert, solemnly.
"What can I do? I'm a poor man. Fortune has gone agin me all my life. There ain't no other way I can get money. If I was well off I wouldn't do it."
"Good Heaven! To think my uncle should be capable of such wickedness."
"It's just as bad for him, ain't it? He hires me to kill you for the sake of money. What's the odds?"